Volt-Age Impact Round 2025

Eligibility

This call – for Impact Projects and for Living Lab (existing relationships) proposals - is open to Concordia researchers and researchers from the three institutional partner institutions on the CFREF project (University of Calgary, Toronto Metropolitan University, and Dalhousie University). 

• Principal and Co-Applicant Investigators must be from Concordia University or from one of the institutional partners from the Volt-Age CFREF grant (University of Calgary, Dalhousie University, Toronto Metropolitan University). 
• The Principle Investigator must be listed as Principal Investigator or Co-Applicant Investigator on a Notice of Intent (NOI). 
• A researcher from Concordia or a partner institution can be a Principal Investigator on only one Impact or Living Lab Project and Co-Applicant Investigator on a maximum of two Impact or Living Lab projects. 
• Number of participants:
  • Each Impact Project must have 5-9 co-applicants.       Up to 2 co-applicants can be from collaborating universities. Normally, each co-applicant will be expected to contribute to attracting the support of a non-academic partner.
  • Each Living Lab proposal must have up to 4 co-applicants. Normally, each co-applicant will be expected to contribute to attracting the support of a non-academic partner.
• No money will be transferred outside of Canada. Money will be transferred to the academic partner institutions’ Offices of Research for funding of accepted Impact grants. Please see Appendix A of the proposal templates for additional information.

Note: For an individual to submit an Impact Call Application as a Principal Investigator, they must be listed as a PI or Co-Applicant Investigator on an NOI. Researchers can only be PI on 1 Impact or Living Lab project, and Co-Applicant on maximum 2 Impact or Living Lab projects.

Proposals will align with Volt-Age’s themes and platforms: 

Themes:

• Creating a smart, sustainable and healthy built environment
• Building resilient community energy and transportation systems
• Planning and governance for social equity and citizen engagement

Platforms

• Platform A: Electrification
• Platform B: Internet-of-Things and Digitalization
• Platform C: Living Labs and Knowledge Mobilization

Summary

Concordia University and its institutional partners (the University of Calgary, Toronto Metropolitan University, and Dalhousie University) secured the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF) grant now titled Volt-Age.  The CFREF-funded program is dedicated to integrating cutting-edge technologies for carbon-neutral buildings, advanced energy storage, smart grids, and the electrification of transportation. Volt-Age is committed to affordability, equity, and societal well-being, with a special emphasis on addressing the unique needs of Indigenous communities. Volt-Age is championing a brighter, decarbonized future through community engagement and concrete solutions.

Impact Round 2025 includes two components:

1. Impact Projects: large-scale, multidisciplinary research initiatives designed to develop and implement new technologies and solutions for the electrification of society. A broad range of academic, public, community and private partners must be involved in Impact Projects to demonstrate real and significant impacts focusing on innovation, economic viability, equity, and the well-being of society. There will be approximately 10 Impact Projects selected by Volt-Age. Each successful project will be awarded up to $4M funding from the Volt-Age CFREF, for projects lasting 4 years. Impact Projects should be articulated around students. The goal is to recruit up to 250 PhD students in the Volt-Age Cohort who will be at the heart of Volt-Age Impact Projects.

1. Living Labs: inclusive spaces to tackle collective challenges through collaborations between researchers and different societal stakeholders across the innovation cycle, from co-defining problems to research and development to testing. Volt-Age Living Labs must exhibit three main characteristics: co-creation of research, engagement of diverse stakeholders, and taking place in a real-life context. Up to two (2) Living Labs will be selected from this first Call for Proposals for Living Labs based on existing relationships. Each successful project will be awarded up to $1.5M funding from the Volt-Age CFREF funds, with projects lasting 3-4 years. (A separate call for Living Labs based on New Partnerships will be launched at a later date.)

Researchers can only be PI on 1 Impact or Living Lab project, and Co-Applicant on maximum 2 Impact or Living Lab projects.

Proposal templates (for the Impact Project and Living Lab proposals) include important eligibility and other application information.

SUBMISSION PROCESS

The application process includes a mandatory Notice of Intent (NOI) and a full application.   NOIs include details of the research focus, proposed members of the research team, potential partners, and impacts relating to Volt-Age research goals.  NOIs will be posted publicly on the Volt-Age Concordia website so they can be viewed by other researchers, allowing for additional collaborations and partnerships to emerge.  NOIs will not be reviewed or assessed; they are informational only.

Applications must be completed using application templates available on the opportunity page here (and attached below).

Timeline

Phase: mandatory Notice of Intent (NOI)

• Submit NOI using online form (link on opportunity page here).
• Email ipd@ucalgary.ca to notify Research Services that an NOI has been submitted.      This will allow Research Services to ensure any update are communicated quickly to applicants.

 Deadline:   January 31, 2025 (no specific time noted; recipients use EST)

Phase: application submission

• PI/team submits application (using Impact Project or Living Lab proposal template) to Research Services for internal review; approvals complete within RMS
  • Email to ipd@ucalgary.ca

     Deadline:   By noon February 25, 2025

• PI/team submits final application by email to Volt-Age Concordia 
  • Email as a single PDF volt-age@concordia.ca; cc ipd@ucalgary.ca

         Date:           By 10pm MST (midnight EST) February 28, 2025

Completed application templates, plus approval in the Research Management System (RMS), are required by RSO by noon on February 25, 2025. Complete the Pre-Award/LOI record in RMS (login at https://research.ucalgary.ca/rms). Please use the “Volt-Age Impact Round 2025” funding opportunity and be sure to select "Submitted for approvals" (Under Save & Progress) in RMS in good time to allow for approvals from your Department Head and/or ADR prior to the Research Services deadline. Consult your department and faculty for more information on their approval processes and timelines. A step sheet for creating an application record in RMS is available in the Resources section below.

RESOURCES

Application templates: Impact Project and Living Lab proposal templates

For proposals involving Indigenous Research, support with the development of your grant application is available internally through the Indigenous Research Support Team (IRST). Applicants can reach out by email to IRST at IRST@ucalgary.ca in advance of the RSO internal deadline. For more information about IRST, please visit the IRST webpage. The attached IRST Grant Review checklist can also be used, in consultation with IRST, to determine if a project involves Indigenous research.

For assistance in identifying international partners, contact the International Research and Innovation team at UCIresearch@ucalgary.ca.

Additional assistance is available through the Strategic Initiatives and Research Intelligence (SIRI) team in the Vice-President (Research) office; email IPD@ucalgary.ca for contact information.

Overhead

N/A

Application deadlines

RSO final internal review deadline

Program application deadline

NOTE: Consult your Faculty Associate Dean (Research) (ADR) regarding Faculty-specific deadlines and submission processes.

Principal Investigators: Complete a Research Management System (RMS) record, including a copy of your complete application, and submit this for approvals in RMS.

Postdocs, students, and trainees: For fellowships and externally-sponsored research training awards or opportunities, you must complete the Research Funding Application Approval (RFAA) Trainee PDF form, and submit it, along with a complete copy of the application, to Research Services at rsotrainee@ucalgary.ca. Trainees should not use RMS at this time.

Approvals: The University of Calgary requires that all funding applications be approved prior to submission. Approval requires signatures via either RMS or the RFAA Trainee form, in the following order:

• Principal Investigator
• Department Head
• Faculty ADR/Dean
• Research Services (on behalf of the Vice-President Research)

Read the Meaning of Grant Signatures policy to understand what your approval means. Please see the agency guidelines for details about which signatures are required on your application, as it may differ from internal requirements.

Late submissions: Late submissions will only be accepted in cases of medical or family emergencies, or other exceptional circumstances. If you submit your RMS record to Research Services after the internal deadline has passed, you must secure additional approvals. Please read: Late Applications Process.

Projects being led elsewhere: faculty members participating in Volt-Age applications led by researchers at other universities contact Research Services (ipd@ucalgary.ca).  If UCalgary is to make any cash or other contributions to a project, RMS approval may be required (by February 25, 2025).

RMS Training

As the full application will run through RMS, we encourage applicants to view the step sheets available at the RMS Training page. 

For training or technical support, you can contact RMS at: rms@ucalgary.ca and 403.210.9309.